red24’s Special Risks Analyst presents the 2016 Kidnapping Watchlist, comprising areas that may be subject to a new or re-emergent kidnapping threat over the coming year.

Kidnap for ransom and extortion (KRE) will continue to pose a significant security risk in traditional kidnapping hotspots in 2016. In addition, changing national and regional economic, political and security dynamics in 2015 have resulted in new and re-emergent kidnapping threats elsewhere. red24 has identified the following locations as having the potential to experience increased KRE activity in 2016. In line with our client focus, an elevated kidnapping threat to foreign recreational and business travellers, business interests and NGO and media personnel has been used as the primary criterion. In light of KRE data sourcing challenges, open-source, privileged and anecdotal information has been used in this assessment. Together with available information pertaining to kidnapping rates, threat types and incident dynamics, additional security threats, domestic and national security-related developments have also been taken into account.